Azerbaijan stands up for Belarus at Eastern Partnership summit

Azerbaijan didn’t agree with paragraph 11 of the joint declaration concerning the internal political situation in Belarus and expressed its position on this paragraph.

The declaration of the 6th Eastern Partnership Summit of the European Union was adopted on December 15.

"The Republic of Azerbaijan disassociates itself from paragraph 11 of the Joint Declaration of the Eastern Partnership Summit of 15 December 2021," the document reads.

The paragraph says that "the EU regrets the decision of the Belarusian authorities to suspend their participation in the Eastern Partnership and look forward to resuming cooperation with the Belarusian authorities as soon as necessary conditions for peaceful democratic transition are in place to build on a joint agenda based on common values and shared interests".

In the meantime, the European Union "continues engagement with and support for the Belarus citizens, civil society and independent media".

"The comprehensive plan of economic support for a democratic Belarus, of up to EUR 3 billion, reflects the EU’s commitment to support the democratic choice of the Belarusian people. Reiterating previous statements, the EU condemns the instrumentalisation of migrants and refugees by the Belarusian authorities and indeed all incidents of instrumentalisation of migrants for political purposes," the paragraph 11 reads.